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Five local Syrians traveled to the border between Turkey and Syria during the last week of the year on a small-scale humanitarian mission. They raised the money through the Syrian American Council, an organization that connects their compatriots with a variety of causes in their home country.

The group raised enough money to buy food for 200 families for a week and winter blankets for 150 people. The activists have made multiple trips to the region over seven months.

“It’s a disaster, what’s happening there," says Rana Dandashi of the Council’s LA chapter, who is keeping in touch with the activists. "Regular people cannot help much, especially when it comes to vaccines and medications; they’re in very, very low supply. And as much as we can do, it’s not going to help very much. So we need an involvement of really big organizations and the government, also.”

The five volunteers plan to deliver the aid to people in Aleppo. Before they return to Los Angeles, they’ll also distribute aid at refugee camps in Antakya, Turkey, and will conduct programs for children in those camps.